You Promised
by storytobetold
Summary: One Shot: During the 20's decade dance Damon and Elena have a conversation that changes everything.


**I'm on a roll right now with writing one shots quickly! So, please be kind with reviews. I'm sure there are a ton of misspelled words and I'm sure the punctuation is wrong but I really don't feel like going over it...sorry! But PLEASE review. I get a ton of traffic but never any reviews which really makes me sad :(**

**I do not own any rights to the Vampire Diaries, which sucks.**

* * *

Damon's hand wrapped around Elena's waist bringing her closer to him. His grip was tight like he was using her as a lifeline. Elena's hand shook as she grabbed his free hand and started to move with the music. Elena could feel everyone's eyes on them. They were looking at Damon. Damon Salvatore. The man she was not suppose to be seen with but she was suppose to oppress her feelings and dance with his brother. However, right now in this moment Elena was holding his hand. His body was cold which accented off her body that was warming with her blood. Her cheeks were flushed and her heart was racing. Elena knew for a fact Damon knew her emotions were running high but he held back his remarks and never made a comment.

Elena suppressed her feeling to look up at Damon. She could feel his eyes on her but Elena fixed her eyes on the people behind him. Their eyes were shocked or maybe they were concerned. Damon was not particularly the 'nice' guy around town. He was not nice to anyone besides those close to Elena, he was hardly even 'nice' to them. Elena controlled her breathing as her and Damon twirled slowly. He released her and she spun herself around before he pulled her close again. She clung to him like he was the concrete that held her feet in place.

"You look beautiful tonight, Elena." He said in her ear. Elena let chills run up her arm with his words. She would usually brush the comment off with a roll of the eyes or a sigh but the way he said something like that made her realize time stopped. Elena quickly whispered a thank you before turning her attention to the people behind him. She could already hear the whispers at school about how she was now dating Damon. Elena clenched her eyes together with the realization that Damon was tense. They were both tense. They still have not talked about Denver and this was the first time they actually made any notion towards each other , other than usual 'someone's about to be killed' speaking.

"I need to talk to you." Damon said more tense than ever. _Here it goes._ Elena thought. She was sure he was about to bring up Denver, about how it was wrong that she used him to figure out her feelings. He would continue to be angry with her and continuously give her the cold shoulder. Elena pulled herself away from him so she could look into his eyes. The darkness of his blue eyes scared her momentarily. Elena nodded her head asking him to continue.

"I'm going to leave town. Tonight." Elena stopped dancing. Her grip on Damon loosened and she dropped his hand. Her mind rattled with the sentence. She thought she was in cartoon and she was just hit with a hammer and flattened to the ground. Elena no longer cared about the people looking at her but she cared about the ocean eyes in front of her. Damon smiled lightly to make the situation better. She wanted to smack the grin off his face. This was not a matter that should be smiled at. Elena stood there for a few minutes before Damon grabbed her hand again and pulled her to him and took the lead. The song became more upbeat but he continued at a slow pace. Elena paid no attention to the dance but to the swishing of her dress. As the beads hit one another they made a calming sound. They were drowning out her thoughts.

"Elena…" Damon started as a new song started and everyone around them danced recklessly. Elena grew furious at how calm he was.

"What do you mean you're leaving town?" She felt like she said this louder than she was suppose to since eyes darted towards her. Elena took note of how Damon blew out a quick sigh. He was completely aware of the effect this would take. Damon was anything but naive. Damon let his thoughts roam with answers but could only find one…the truth.

"It would be best if I left." The truth was overrated in Elena's mind. How could it be best? Elena laughed a hard laugh before looking up into his eyes.

"Hardly. You can't just leave, after everything that's going on, leaving should be the last thing on your list!" Elena gripped his hand harder hoping to prove a point only Damon was not human and her grip was nothing.

"On the contrary, Elena. If there is anything you should know is my feelings for you. I can't sit here in this small town and watch you Stefan be together…"

"We are not together." Elena spoke with a cold voice. It felt like her world was falling at the seams.

"The fact you invited him to the dance gives the impression you are." Elena opened her mouth but nothing came out. He was right. She did invite him to the dance. Elena was not sure if it was to figure them out or to close the chapter but she did. She asked Stefan to be her date which would give anyone the indication she was dating Stefan again…until she started dancing with Damon. Damon took her silence in and continued to what he had to say.

"The thing is Elena, I spent 160 years trying to get a woman out of a tomb that I thought she was trapped in. 160 years of waiting for my love to be with me again. It was only when I arrived here and opened that tomb that I realized she was not in the tomb. Yes, it sucked but I got over it. I only lived with the pain for a few months then I opened up my heart to you." Elena looked away from Damon letting the blood rush to her face. It was not flattery that made the blood rush through her but the anger she was feeling. She was already aware Damon loved her and also once loved Katherine. Damon continued before Elena could interrupt him.

"With you it hurts 100 times more than it did with Katherine." Elena softened her face and looked back at Damon. Her grip around his jacket tightened. She was clinging to him like he was the last breath of air she needed.

"I thought Katherine loved me for 160 years and she didn't. I got over it. Elena, I've loved you for quite some time and I know you don't love me. That's what hurts. I've been sitting by and watching you pine over my little brother. I'm not even mad about that because let's face it…you met him first. You loved him first. I get that. I just feel like sitting here and being jealous of my brothers love for you is sad. I can't keep doing it because every minute that pasts and I know I'm not with you will kill me. Metaphorically speaking. My brother deserves happiness and that's with you. So, I'm going to leave my love with you here in this town and I'm going to go." The song ended just then and Damon let go of Elena and walked away. Elena let the tears that brimmed her eyes fall. In the far distance Damon let his rare tear fall. He knew his heart will be forever broken for this but it was what needed to be done. He had to let her go. He could not do what he did with Katherine and wait 160 years to find out her love would never come.

Elena left the Roaring Twenties dance by herself and without saying goodbye to anyone. She needed to be allow. Her pain would only increase if she had to explain what happened to Damon. _How could he?_ Elena thought to herself. The wind blew the tears on her face dry. The weather fit her mood perfectly. Cold and alone. Elena looked up at the clear stars and wished she was one of them. They were in their place in the world. They shined bright in the sky every night. They were the twinkle in everyone's life. They were perfect and Elena wanted to hold onto something so perfect before the vicious wind picked her up and blew away the perfect. The wind was anything but calm. The wind was more her. It was the element that was destructive. The wind could take down building, lives, and destroy beauty. Elena was grateful to see her house in the distance. She quickened her pace until she saw a familiar figure sitting on the bench on her porch. She wanted to smile at him but after what just happened she could hardly think straight. Elena let her anger boil up in her. His smile disappeared at her appearance.

"What's wrong?" Stefan's soothing voice made no dent in Elena's anger.

"Did you know your brother was leaving town?" The silence only made Elena angrier. "DID YOU!" She yelled. Stefan looked to the ground, giving Elena her response. She thought for a moment she would hurt him until she caught his eyes.

"I didn't think it mattered, Elena. I want us to try to start over and be what we once were. Damon made up his mind without any influence. He came to me this morning and told me. I didn't think it was a big deal to tell you." Elena scrunched her face. She felt disgusted in him. He did not think it 'mattered'. What kind of thing actually mattered then. Stefan took a step closer making Elena putting her hand up telling him to stop. Stefan stared at her hand for a long while before asking the question that Elena was dreading.

"Why does it matter?" He asked barely audible. Something in Elena snapped and she felt like her next words would shatter the world around her.

"Because Stefan! He was here and he made sure I was safe. In the time you were gone I started to grow feelings for him! Then of course I fell in love with him! Now I've been stuck in a situation where I have to choose the guy I loved or the guy I started to love! You tell me why it mattered! I'm hurt that I just had to dance with someone who told me he was leaving so you could be with me! He's been playing the villain for so long that he thinks he doesn't deserve love! What kind of crap is that?" Elena wanted to cry but her words were just the truth. Damon buried himself in the evil work of her life and he let her be mad at him for doing the dirty work. He never questioned if Stefan should be the good guy. Damon let him be the good guy and made sure he was the bad guy in everything. In a way Elena always knew this but she really never thought twice about it. Elena reminisced on what she once said 'He does everything for love'. This he did for his brother. He knew his brother deserved love because he was classified as the good guy. Damon thought out of both of them he was less deserving of love and that made Elena sick to her stomach because in reality he was the most deserving. He always made sure she was okay. He made sure she lived and he made sure she knew he loved her.

"I didn't know you loved him, Elena." Stefan's voice was broken but he was expecting it. Everything about this conversation he was predicting for over a year. Since the moment he met Elena he was dreading the day she opened up to admitting to loving Damon. Stefan silently cursed himself because he let her go. He felt her alone with Damon and let her fall into Damon's arms for comfort. Stefan smiled up at Elena and let one glance of his love burn into his brain. Only he wished she was smiling back. Elena let her makeup fall down her face and let frown lines show on her forehead. She was also dreading the moment where she closed the chapter to Stefan Salvatore. She really never thought she would see the day where she would. Elena would always love Stefan but at the moment she was not in love with him. Right now her heart was with Damon. The bastard that he was half the time made her love him. His cockiness and arrogance made him…Damon. Stefan walked away without a word and with his head held high. The hurt was there but he knew he would be okay. He would not leave Elena but he would allow his heart to move on.

Elena rushed to her room and cried. She was cursing his name. A name she use to despise but came to love. Damon Salvatore. His rash behavior and sensitive side he rarely showed is what made him so lovable. Elena laid in bed and covered her face with her blankets as she let the tears fall down her face. Jeremy was in the other room fast asleep so Elena kept her whimpers down. She kept replaying the same sentence in her head : _you promised you would never leave me again._ Damon said this to her after Stefan had bit her and Klaus stole some of her blood. She was sure he would keep to his promise. How could he just walk out on a promise that held so much meaning. She had no idea what she would do anymore. Her head was telling her to get over it and protect those still around her. However, her heart was screaming at her to go find him and tell him he deserves her more than anyone. She wanted to smile at him and tell him she loves him and remind him of the time they spent in Georgia. She even wanted to remind him of all the fights that got them where they are today. Elena wanted to remind Damon why he should never leave but she couldn't because he was already gone. _You promised you would never leave me again.  
_

* * *

**Please review!**_  
_


End file.
